Fireplaces and stoves have been employed as sources of residential and even commercial heating for centuries, and their popularity can be seen to increase in relative proportion to increases in energy prices. It will be appreciated that it is economically advantageous to get the most energy possible from wood, coal, heating pellets, and other forms of burnable fuel. It would be ideal, therefore, to ensure that the burnable fuel is as fully consumed as possible and, conversely, that as little unburned fuel as possible is removed from the fireplace or stove during cleaning and the like. One knowledgeable in the art will also be aware that removing as little unburned fuel as possible is desirable to minimize the volume of waste with which a party must contend.
A number of prior art inventors, such as Brooks in U.S. Pat. No. 71,969, Cipriano in U.S. Pat. No. 1,675,092, Fisher in U.S. Pat. No. 2,005,416, Neugent in U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,376 to Neugent, and Dixon in U.S. Pat. No. 6,658,285, have sought to provide hand tools for enabling the easy, efficient, and safe sifting of materials. To date, however, the proposed solutions of the prior art have been comparatively limited in effectiveness and complex in structure and operation.
For example, many devices of the prior art have disadvantageously removed significant amounts of large coals, embers, and other uncombusted materials from the combustion area thereby leading to unnecessary energy losses. The effectiveness of other prior art constructions has been inhibited by components that inadequately secure heated embers during the removal and transfer of ash from the combustion area to a waste container thereby representing not only a significant fire hazard but also a messy and inefficient arrangement. Still further, certain prior art devices employ moving parts whose function is impaired by individual and repeated heating effects, including thermal expansion and contraction, thereby leading to malfunctioning and premature failure.
In light of the foregoing, it will be appreciated that there is a need in the art for a sifting tool for enabling the safe and efficient sifting of unburned embers from dust, ash, and the like to permit, for example, the removal of the dust and ash from a furnace, stove, or the like while enabling the return of unburned embers to the combustion area for permitting the full and efficient consumption thereof with minimal waste.